Cans of Coca-Cola, bottles of Budweiser and packets of Oreos are instantly recognizable for their distinctive packaging and logos, which have helped them become billion-dollar brands.
But their value could be sorely dented if food and beverage companies are forced to introduce plain packaging on alcohol, sugary drinks and snack products, which is already the case for cigarette brands in some countries.
A report suggests that $186.7 billion could be wiped off the combined enterprise value of firms such as PepsiCo, Mondelez and AB InBev if they were prevented from using logos, familiar brand colors and images.
Marketing consultancy Brand Finance analyzed 907 brands from eight large food and beverage companies, including PepsiCo, Nestle, Heineken and Danone, for its “Plain Packaging 2017” report published Thursday.
It found that The Coca-Cola Company could lose $47.3 billion from the value of its brands if it was forced to put sugary beverages such as Coke and Powerade in plain bottles, while rival PepsiCo could lose $43 billion.
